University of Cambridge
What we do

Creating impact through partnerships

We share knowledge and expertise with partners both inside and outside of the University.

We have been instrumental in the creation of two key ventures in the fields of drug discovery and agri-tech. Other partnerships include our work with Cambridge Judge Business School in the area of social enterprise and links within the NHS locally to promote innovation in medical technology.

Apollo Therapeutics

Apollo Therapeutics is a novel collaborative venture created in 2016 in order to accelerate new drugs towards market. It combines the expertise of the world-leading UK universities of Cambridge, Imperial College London and University College London with global pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson Innovation.

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Cambridge Social Ventures

We work with Cambridge Social Ventures at Cambridge Judge Business School’s Centre for Social Innovation to support budding social entrepreneurs. Their 12-month social incubator helps social entrepreneurs find mentors, connect to the market, attract funding and develop a working business model. Through our partnership, projects driven by University members may apply for early stage investment in the form of our Social Pathfinder.

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Ceres: Connected Agri-Tech

Launched in 2018, the Ceres Agri-Tech Knowledge Exchange Partnership catalyses early stage technology transfer from the agri-tech cluster in the East of England in order to drive competitiveness and efficiency in this globally critical sector. Ceres supports commercialisation of agri-tech research and innovation by sharing knowledge and expertise through a partnership among the universities of Cambridge, East Anglia, Hertfordshire, Lincoln and Reading together with the John Innes Centre, NIAB and Rothamsted Research.

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Impact U

The University of Cambridge is a key member of Impact U, a collaboration of twelve partner universities across the Midlands to create opportunities for social enterprise companies emerging from our combined entrepreneurial ecosystems. This collaboration focuses on ventures whose impact is aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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Matcelerate Zero

Matcelerate Zero is a unique partnership between world-leading materials research universities and global companies to accelerate climate solutions.

Backed by the Henry Royce Institute, the partner universities are the University of Bristol (Bristol Innovations), University of Cambridge (Cambridge Enterprise), Imperial College London (Enterprise), University of Manchester (University of Manchester Innovation Factory), University of Oxford (Oxford University Innovation) and University College London (UCL Business). A number of companies have also joined the partnership.

Matcelerate Zero is based on a proven model, led by Cambridge Enterprise, to address similar integration and scale-up challenges in the pharmaceutical and agri-tech sectors.

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The NHS

We work in close partnership with Cambridge University Hospitals, the NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Innovation Partner Health Enterprise East. Our office at the University’s School of Clinical Medicine gives us a base on the Addenbrooke’s site to assist in the development of innovative medical technology products and services in conjunction with NHS employees.

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TenU

The University of Cambridge is a member of TenU, an international collaboration formed to capture effective practices in research commercialisation and share these with governments and higher education communities.

TenU members are the technology transfer offices of the University of Cambridge, Columbia University, University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London, KU Leuven, University of Manchester, MIT, University of Oxford, Stanford University, and UCL. TenU members work together to increase the societal impact of research.

Cambridge Enterprise hosts TenU.

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